The present invention is directed, in general, to wireless communication systems and methods of operating the same, and, in particular, to non-realtime communication systems for converting voice messages to text messages and subsequent transmission of the same.
The ever increasing availability and popularity of wireless communication can be linked to technological gains that have provided more efficient, reliable and cost-effective mobile devices, such as message pagers, wireless telephones and personal communication services (xe2x80x9cPCSxe2x80x9d) devices, as examples. Due to their mobility and low power requirements, conventional mobile devices impose significant design constraints upon the wireless communication networks and base stations that support them. Nevertheless, the demand for better and cheaper mobile devices and wireless communication services continues to grow at a rapid pace.
The selection of one mobile device over another is usually the result of a simple cost benefit analysisxe2x80x94the cost of a particular mobile device, the anticipated life span for that device, the usefulness of the various services that can be subscribed to using the device, etc. Message paging subscribers, for instance, demand powerful and sophisticated features (e.g., voice mail, e-mail, wide area paging, out of area roaming, voice messaging, voice response, etc.) that often conflict with the physical restrictions of minimized size and increased battery lifexe2x80x94the size of conventional pagers makes it difficult to incorporate advanced features requiring interaction with the subscriber (e.g., integration of control switches/keypads into message pager).
The trend to enhance services has been to incorporate automated call processing techniques into communication systems and system services. Many contemporary message paging systems, for instance, include automated interfaces for interacting with callers. Commonly, these systems enable a caller to the system to leave a message for a subscriber of the system by leaving a call-back number using the telephone keypad.
More advanced systems enable callers to interact with the system by responding to system queries using their telephone keypads. At some point during this interaction, the caller is asked whether he wishes to leave a xe2x80x9ctextxe2x80x9d (alphanumeric) or voice (e.g., voice mail, voice message page, etc.) message. A positive response concerning the xe2x80x9ctextxe2x80x9d message will cause the system to transfer the caller to a system operator to whom the caller dictates a message. After the dictation is complete, the system operator often verifies the text message by reading the same back to the caller. Following the caller""s approval, the text message is then transmitted to the subscriber.
There is desire and need in the art to increase the utility of such call processing systems by having them recognize speech. A suitable speech recognition system will automate, at least in part, the foregoing dictation process, that not only will translate voice to text for delivery of voice messages to text pagers, but allow file based automated processing of messages.
Speech recognition, by definition, is the ability of a system to understand human speech. A speech recognition system usually is made up of an input device, a voice board that provides analog-to-digital conversion of a speech signal, and a signal processing module that uses patterns to recognize the speech signal. To be acceptable, the speech recognition system must rapidly and accurately recognize a wide range of words and phrases (a vocabulary), such as the thousands words and phrases used by callers into message paging systems. In current speech recognition systems, as the vocabulary that can be recognized increases, the speed and accuracy are reduced, as the speech recognition system must search through more possibilities, and the number of similar-sounding words and phrases increases. These problems have limited the practical uses of speech recognition systems.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide, in a non-realtime messaging system, a means for processing oral messages received from a variety of callers and, in response thereto, for generating substantially equivalent text messages. The processing means uses data patterns representing oral phrases specific to the non-realtime messaging system. The phrase xe2x80x9cspecific to,xe2x80x9d as it is used herein, means to be peculiar to or characteristic of the particular messaging system (discussed in detail hereafter); analogous phrases include particular to, distinct to, unique to, common to, native to, and the like. It should be noted that the xe2x80x9coral phrasesxe2x80x9d may be specific to a general type of non-realtime messaging system (e.g., a message paging system), to a particular non-realtime messaging system implementation (e.g., an intra-network e-mail system specific to a freight delivery company), or to both.
An illustrative embodiment of a non-realtime messaging system in accord with the principles of the present invention is a suitably arranged message paging system. The message paging system includes each of a messaging controller, a data repository and a translating controller. Collectively, these controllers are capable of converting oral messages received from callers into substantially equivalent text messages. The messaging controller is capable of receiving oral messages from callers into the message paging system and transmitting text messages to message pagers used by subscribers of the system. The data repository is capable of storing data patterns that represent oral phrases specific to the message paging system. The translating controller, which is associated with the messaging controller and the data repository, is operable to process the received oral messages using the stored data patterns and to generate at least substantially equivalent text messages in response thereto. The generated text messages are then transmitted by the messaging controller to the subscribers for whom the received oral messages where intended.
For instance, assume that a freight delivery company subscribes to a suitably arranged message paging system and each of its drivers carries a conventional alphanumeric message pager. A dispatcher for the freight delivery company calls the message paging system and records the following oral message for a particular driverxe2x80x94a subscriberxe2x80x94xe2x80x9cCall home, its not an emergency. Remember to meet Joe at the restaurant for lunch.xe2x80x9d The message paging system, using data patterns representing oral phrases specific to it, processes the received oral message and generates a text message in response thereto. As is described in detail hereafter, the subject data patterns collectively provide a context sensitive vocabulary. The message paging system parses the stored oral message and compares the same with the vocabulary to generate the text message.
The assignee of the invention disclosed in this patent document is, inter alia, an international provider of message paging systems and services. Attached APPENDIX A, which is discussed in detail hereafter, includes a partial list of acronyms, words, names, terms, tags and the like (collectively, hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9cphrasesxe2x80x9d) commonly used by callers into the assignee""s message paging system; in short, this list represents a xe2x80x9csnapshotxe2x80x9d of phrases common to the assignee""s system. Each phrase on this exemplary list is associated with a numeric value indicating the number of times, or frequency, with which the particular phrase was used on a particular day by callers leaving oral messages with system operators (described hereabove). The phrases are sorted as a function of this value. According to an advantageous embodiment, a list of phrases, such as the exemplary list of APPENDIX A, may contribute to a vocabulary specific to a general message paging system.
According to one advantageous embodiment, the system proposes, or xe2x80x9cplays,xe2x80x9d the generated text message to the caller. This may be accomplished either by maintaining the communication channel with the caller during oral message processing or, alternatively, by calling the caller back to verify the message. The caller may accept or reject the text message. If the caller accepts the text message, the message is sent to the subscriber; if the caller rejects the text message, then an appropriate response must be undertaken. For instance, the caller may be transferred to a traditional xe2x80x9clivexe2x80x9d system operator that will manually take the oral message from the caller and transcribe the same into a text message.
In a related embodiment, before, or while, transferring the caller to the operator, the system plays the previously stored oral message for the operator and displays the proposed text message to the operator, in short, front-loading, or xe2x80x9cprefetching,xe2x80x9d information that the operator may need to efficiently interact with the caller.
Alternatively, the caller and the system may interact in a manner that enables the caller to identify that portion of the text message that is incorrect and, hopefully, correct the same. According to one embodiment, the caller parses the proposed text message with the system, identifying the incorrect portion or portions. The system then prompts, or asks, the caller to spell the phrase, to select or pick a phrase from a group or list of phrases, or the like, thereby correcting the same.
The foregoing SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION outlines, rather broadly, some advantageous features of various embodiments of the present invention so that those of ordinary skill in the art may better understand the DETAILED DESCRIPTION that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereafter that form the subject matter of the CLAIMS OF THE INVENTION. Those of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiments as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention in its broadest form.
Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms xe2x80x9cincludexe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9ccomprise,xe2x80x9d as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term xe2x80x9cor,xe2x80x9d is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases xe2x80x9cassociated withxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cassociated therewith,xe2x80x9d as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, be a property of, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term xe2x80x9ccontrollerxe2x80x9d means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases.